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Michael Robinson started his journalism career covering Wisconsin Badgers football and basketball. He has since taken his talents around the globe, writing for Maxim Magazine Online, Football.com, Rotoworld.com, and VIP Sports.

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NBA Finals Preview - June 15, 2006

Game 4 of the NBA Finals is tonight and Miami is trying to even up the series at 2-2 heading back to Dallas.

Bet Now: Dallas (+2) at Miami

In my opinion, the outcome of this game rests on two questions.

1) How is the psyche of the Dallas Mavericks?

By now, you know the story of Game 3 even if you didn’t stay up and watch the dramatic conclusion.

Dallas was leading 89-76 with just 6:34 left in the 4th quarter. The Miami crowd seemed stunned knowing that a win would give Dallas an insurmountable 3-0 series lead.

Then, it was Dwyane Wade time.

Wade scored 12 points in the last 6:34 giving him 42 points for the game. It was a playoff performance worthy of Michael Jordan himself as he did most of the damage during crunch time.

Miami ended up taking a two point lead when Gary Payton, of all people, hit an 18 foot jumper with nine seconds left. That was Payton’s only shot of the game. Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki drew a shooting foul with 3.4 seconds to go, but the 94 percent free-throw shooter uncharacteristically missed the second one. That was the ballgame.

Dallas now has to regroup mentally knowing they had this series all but won. Miami is going to come out very aggressively tonight, as they know they can not afford to get into a similar situation where they have to pull out a miraculous win.

The good news for Dallas is that they are still in control even with a loss tonight. The series would be tied at 2-2, and Dallas has Games 5 and 7 at home. A win tonight means Dallas has a great chance of ending this in five.

2) Will the real Shaquille O’Neal please show up?

Against Dallas, Shaq is averaging 12.7 points per game on 8.3 shots. He averaged 20 points per game on 13.6 shots during the regular season.

It appears to me that Shaq’s non-production is less a function of the Dallas’ defense and more the fact that he is afraid to be aggressive at the offensive end for fear of having to shoot free throws.

O’Neal was a respectable 4-6 from the line in Game 3 after going a combined 2-16 in the first two contests.

Miami can not just rely on Wade offensively if they want to win this game. Dallas is just too deep and has too many scoring options. If Shaq does not hit the 20 point mark for the 4th consecutive game, then Dallas wins tonight.

Outlook

I know I said this in the last article, but can coach Pat Riley please reign-in Antoine Walker? His 6-17 shooting effort in Game 3 was more shot attempts than Shaq, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning and James Posey combined.

As far as the outcome tonight, I think Miami takes the momentum from Game 3 and wins Game 4 a little easier. Dallas is still the solid favorite to win the series, but this could easily go a full seven games.

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